Caine and Astrid (Contest Entry)
by TheEldersOwner
Summary: This is my entry for EvilOk's Caine/Astrid contest. There is a bit of swear so be warned and some pretty intense name calling. Set after Sam has left for the Lake and Caine is King. Caine finds Astrid in the woods high and unwashed and brings her back to the Beach with him. Everything is normal until they both settle for the second best. Enjoy :)
1. Reunion

**Oh my goodness! This took so long. I defiantly thought that this story would be easier to write than it was. So this is my contest entry for EvilOk's contest pairing Astrid and Caine. First contest and I really hope that people like it :)I know that there isn't any romance in this chapter but there will be very soon. I am going to write my ass off in the next week and get this story finished, or close to it. **

**P.S.- I get my braces off on Monday! Two years with these buggers. End of an era :)**

Astrid had been running for what seemed like ever. She wasn't literally running all the time, putting one foot in front of the other at a brisk pace, but she felt like she was. Her mind never stopped spinning and her heart never stopped pumping painfully and her stomach never stopped churning with powerful emotion. It's impossible to just stand still when you've done something that makes your insides slither and ooze through you. When she closed her eyes, Astrid could picture her large intestines tying them self into a noose.

Nothing was still in the woods either. There were squirrels and birds and flying snakes. Everything was constantly moving in the forest that had recently become her home as well. It was hard to listen for anything when everything was making noise. Astrid always had to stay alert because (as she had learned very quickly) everything in the FAYZ is trying to kill you. The worms have teeth, for gods sake. In a world like that, nothing is safe.

She was sitting with her back against a big pine tree, a small fire warming her hands just enough to feel safe. Safer.

Astrid reached over to her torn backpack containing everything she had brought with her. All of her worldly possession. _This_ _sucks_. There was no other way to put it. Astrid had never had an unbelievable amount of money but her family got along just fine. She was used to a certain style if living before the FAYZ. _Get over it princess._

Astrid had grown a shell when she had killed her little brother. The small amount if gentleness that she had possessed before was completely gone.

She snapped oped the smallest pocket in her backpack and took out a small Ziploc back with dried vegetation in it and seventeen small rectangles of flimsy paper. She had used two already. Astrid was still quite unprofessional with her joint wrapping skills, but steadily they were progressing.

Astrid took out a sheet and made a line of green across it with her new favorite plant. She licked the paper and rolled it all up into a fun filled tube. After twisting the end, Astrid held the joint over the fire until a flame big enough licked the twist and set it alight.

It only was Astrid's third time smoking anything so when she inhaled her throat seized up and her lungs began to reject the wretched smoke. She was bent in half coughing for a few seconds than she took another puff. She had heard people talking about smoking so she knew that to get the full, glorious affect, she had to breath in a lungful, hold for as long as you could, then slowly release it.

Her favorite part of smoking wasn't the way that made her brain float, it was the way the smoke looked coming out of her mouth. It made her feel like a dragon who once in a while, had to release some of it's fire. It made her feel like she was on fire and she was burning from the inside out. She felt like along with the smoke, she was breathing out her sins and her badness. It was a beautiful release.

She held the joint between her lips and leaned her head against her tree. Her eyes drooped and she let the tension drain from her shoulders and neck. Her mind gently flew away and she could forget how awful everything in her life was. She was so relaxed and high and out of it that she didn't hear the twigs snap under the heavy feet of a boy, slowly approaching her.

The boy stalked, shadowed by the greenery, sniffing the air. It was sweet and sour and bitter and muggy. Every Coates kid knew that smell. Who it was coming from was the question.

The boy kept walking gingerly until her saw ahead of him a clearing with a small fire in it and a person sleeping, it looked like sleep anyways, against a tree. The person didn't look like a threat but he knew a small, scrawny, red-head who enjoyed cutting people up with wire. She hadn't looked like much of a threat either.

Caine flashed his hands out and Astrid rose off the ground and slammed into the tree. She was so surprised that she didn't scream or let the marijuana fall from her lips.

"Astrid? You have got to be kidding me," Caine said, shaking his head. "When did you become a pot head?"

Astrid didn't talk for twelve seconds. The weed had slowed her brain and stunted any response she could've made to Caine, who was still gawking at her. "Umm... Hey Caine," she said at last.

"Yeah. How high _are_ you?"

Astrid for some reason found this statement hilarious. She began squawking and honking so hard that her head hung loose and her neck rolled back and forth. Caine's grip was firm but her could feel her body shaking with laughter underneath it.

"Since when did you show an interest in how I feel?' Astrid joked once she regained her breath. She kept laughing than said in a sing songy voice, "How high are you?"

"Jesus Astrid. Why are you out here?"

"There you go again Caine-y, caring about how I am. It's really quite chivalrous." The word chivalrous took her three tries to say.

Caine was getting annoyed now and decided to stop playing around. "I was only wondering why you aren't snuggled up to Sam or whoring around with some other poor loser."

He struck a nerve and a burst of energy pushed against his force field, "You don't know shit, Caine! If anyone's the whore it's your precious Diana. I wonder if she's made her way through the town yet? I bet they all take turns in her room. One fuck at a time until the entire FAYZ has been up close and personal with her-"

Caine had had enough. He had tried to not to block out the horrible things she was saying but he couldn't anymore. He had been with Diana in the most personal way possible and the thought that anyone else might get that chance made his blood turn into fire. He knew that she had moved on or whatever and he was trying to but at any mention of her, he started to feel her breath on his neck and her nails lightly running up and down his back and her mouth gently resting in the crevice of his neck. He felt an overwhelming loss and the best way he knew to get rid of it was to shut the person up who was talking about his Diana. So he decided, spur of the moment, to slam Astrid's face into the soil at the base of the tree. "Try saying that again with your mouth full of dirt. I _dare _you." He held her in the dirt, probably suffocating her mildly, for about thirty seconds, then loosened up. She lifted her face out of the the ground and spat a mouthful f mud to the right side of her face. Then she looked up at Caine and smiled, most of her teeth were coated in dirt and she looked like a crack addict who's teeth had rotted out in their sockets.

"Afraid of the truth Caine?"

He knelt down and looked her straight in the eyes. "I swear to god Astrid, if you don't shut the hell up, I'll kill you. You and I both know that that would be incredibly easy for me seeing as I really, really hate you," Caine showed a sickly smile. "Talk about her like that _ever _again and your body will be in the ground faster than you could seduce Sammy-boy then tell him that your body belongs to God. Yeah, everyone knows all about your little tease acts. Kinda famous for them actually." Caine could feel her struggling getting harder and harder as he taunted her. He knew exactly how to play this, how to kill her nerves, and to plant little seeds of self loathing in her brain.

Astrid composed herself slowly then decided that the only way you could fight Caine was by do unto him what he does to others. "Why are you even here Caine? Ohhh," she cooed, "Were you trying to find your little bitch, Diana so you could tie her to a bed and try to make her love you? Did it not work the first time? It;s okay, bud. At least you tried."

"Jesus," Caine laughed. "Do you enjoy signing your own death certificate, Genius? And, FYI, I wasn't looking for you or my ex-lover, I was looking for Drake. And yes, _lover_, Because we were in love with each other. Something I know you haven't experienced yourself."

* * *

With all of the yelling and anger, the two didn't hear the small footsteps of the twelve year old boy who was looking for his king. "Ummm, your Majesty?" Darrel said in a quivering voice. He had seen Drake's arm and how well he knew how to use it so, needless to say, he was desperate to get out of the forest and back to the dingy little home he shared with his older sister.

The blond girl who looked oddly familiar and King Caine snapped their heads in his direction. The Kings hands shot out and Darrel braced himself for an invisible Hulk-like fist to punch him into oblivion. The impact didn't come but the tension in his shoulders stayed put.

"Pfft!" The girl burst out laughing and rolling on the ground. "Your Majesty?!" she managed before her face was plowed into the dirt by Caine once more.

"What do you want Dale?" Caine said sounding annoyed and all of a sudden Darrel recognized the girl.

"Astrid Ellison? What's she doing _here_? Also um, my name's Darrel..."

"Oh, sorry David... Why aren't you looking for Drake?" Caine demanded, shrugging the name thing off like it didn't matter that only two of the letters were right.

"Um, we've all searched and we can't find anything. Nobody brought any food and we were wondering..." Darrel paused. He hated asking people for stuff.

"Yeah? Spit it out."

"If we could go home now? It's almost dinner and none of us have eaten since we woke up..."

Caine groaned. He had really wanted to catch Drake today. Get that creep gone. He would look stupid and weak going back to the beach empty handed. He hadn't done anything as King accept make Penny very happy. He needed something to show for, something that he had done himself to better the lives of every kid living in Perdido Beach.

Catching Drake was his big thing to show for. And he hadn't done it.

"Astrid," he said, stretching out the A at the beginning of her name. He stayed facing the boy who still looked petrified. "How would you like to take a trip?"

He heard a muffled voice in response and looked down at his feet to see the back of Astrid's head. "Silly me," Caine laughed as he released his hold on the girl.

"Do I have to call you 'Your Majesty'?"

* * *

**Hello again! I'm going to do questions in this story so please answer them in the reviews :)  
**

**1. Do you ship Astrid and Caine?**

**2. Do you like Astrid?**

**3. What's favorite Gone book? **

**Have a lovely day!**


	2. Road Trip for the Ages

**Ta da! I'm keeping this short so I can keep writing the next chapter before I loose train of thought :) Hope you enjoy**

Chapter 2

Caine eight _soldiers _marched ahead of the two oldest kids. Astrid was trudging beside Caine with her hands tied together with a torn off bit from one of the boys shirts. When Caine had tied it on she had laughed. "Do you honestly think that I couldn't get out of this?"

He had just smirked and continued to tie the fabric. "It's not for security Genius. It's for show."

"Why is it so exciting to capture someone who isn't wanted?"

"How do you know that you _aren't _wanted?" Caine asked in his smoothest voice.

"I didn't do anything!" Astrid exploded and started to flail her bound wrists up and down.

Caine stopped and put a hand on Astrid's shoulder. He didn't use his power because just by this one small contact it brought Astrid back to herself. She turned and looked at him, questioning eyes. He really was beautiful. His eyes softened and she waited for him to say something. From the way his posture loosened muscles relaxed, Astrid would've guess that he would say something profound or settling. Maybe something like 'I know you didn't' or 'It's okay.' Then, in a calm voice, he asked, "Wait, then you didn't kill your little, autistic brother? Oops. Sorry I must have been thinking about that other blond girl who made terrible life decisions."

With that Astrid flung herself at Caine. He landed and his back and Astrid fell on top of him, straddling his stomach. It took a second of her screeching before the other kids turned around and rushed to their king's side. Two heaved Astrid up and held her arms back while the others made sure that Caine was okay. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he told them as they brushed his shoulders off. When they didn't stop fawning, Caine used his _Kingly Voice. _"Jesus! I said I'm fine now lay off!" He shrugged them off and walked toward the still thrashing Astrid. "Now, now. No biting," he said as she clamped her jaw together in his general direction. He smirked then walked around the three kids. "Time to go home."

The two boys tried in vein to pick up and turn Astrid around. They were both shorter than her so found it very difficult to do anything besides hold her still. "Um, your Majesty?" one called out behind him. Caine whipped around and yelled, "What's with the holdup? If we're not back before sunset I won't be protecting any of you from the coyotes."

"She won't do what we say..." the other boy trailed off nervously.

Caine groaned and retraced his steps. mumbling about how he has to do everything himself and how the point of being a king was to have other people do stuff for you. "Hand her over." The boys graciously shoved Astrid at Caine and she stumbled into his arms. Her face landed between his collar bones and she could immediately smell his scent. He smelled like a pine wood boat rocking in the ocean with little drips coming into the vessel. There was another smell that she couldn't place but it made her shoulders drop her whole body relax deep into her bones. It took everything Astrid hand not to push her face into his shirt and inhale as deeply as she possibly could.

When Astrid had fallen on Caine his immediate reaction was wrapping his arms around her to keep her from falling to the dirt. She was slim and fragile but there was a thickness to her that made her feel real in his arms. He felt the vibrations of her breath first in his then it spread up to his head and down to his feet. It was an unimaginable relief to finally have another person with him. He hadn't touched anyone for an extended period of time since Diana had left him and having Astrid so close to him created a force field of warmness around them both.

It as two seconds before Astrid's mind registered who's chest she was gently running her fingers against. She started to yell and squirm again desperately wanted to just fall asleep in his arms instead. Caine was brought out of his dream by her violent moving and stale screams. He grabbed her stomach and lifted her onto his shoulder. Astrid thrashed her legs once they were off the ground but stopped in shock when she realized that Caine intended to carry her fireman style all the way back to Perdido Beach.

He started walking. "Put me down," Astrid demanded. Caine kept walking. "Now, Caine!" her voice cracked. Caine kept walking. "Caine! NOW!" It was like that for about three minutes before Astrid transformed herself into a rag doll figuring it was easier to just accept it and let him walk as fast as he could and have it be over sooner rather than later. After about five minutes of silence Caine grunted, "See how much nicer it is when you don't talk?" Astrid could tell that her weight had started to take a toll on him. Nobody was eating as well as they should so this much exercise would tire anyone out. Accept maybe Quinn... Astrid's mind wandered in it's post high state. Caine spoke again ten minutes later. "Why didn't you go with Sam? Aren't you two like, soul mates or whatever?"

The question struck her as odd. Why would Caine want to talk about Sam? He hated Sam. Sam stole Diana from him. Why was he asking about their love story? "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said," he was panting. "Why didn't you go with Sam? Why'd you stake out in the forest?"

"I couldn't face him."

"Why?"

"Why do you care?!"

"I just want to know!"

There were quiet for a bit, then Astrid sighed dramatically. She took a second than let everything bumble out of her brain through her mouth. "I couldn't face him because he'd know what I'd done. He would feel guilty for not protecting me from myself. He'd feel bad because he hadn't been able to do it for 'd also hate the fact that I had killed somebody. I was a bad guy in his definition. I wasn't me anymore. I'm _not_ me anymore. I have this stupid wall all around me now and I don't know why. Sam would try to hard to make everything normal, which is the stupidest thing you could try to do in the FAYZ," Caine snickered. "He'd be too sweet and he'd hold me too close and too tight and he wouldn't kiss me. He wouldn't want to push me into anything. And that's good. It's just fake. I need people to be real with me right now. I need people to look at me funny because I killed my baby brother. I need people to hold their little siblings closer when they see me coming up the street. It's not normal what I did so acting normal would just make me feel even more abnormal and fake and Sam would just... He would just make me hate myself even more."

Astrid waited. She kept waiting. He didn't say anything. He still didn't say anything. People were supposed to say something after opening up like that. She had spilled her guts and he wasn't saying anything! _He was just doing it to make a fool of me_, she thought, getting more and more agitated. "Caine?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"You, um... You're supposed to... Why did Diana go with Sam?"

Caine stopped. He stayed still for three seconds then shrugged Astrid off of his shoulder. She smashed onto the ground and yelped. "Caine!" she yelled as he began walking ahead again. "Caine!" she yelled louder.

He turned slowly, his brown eyes had frozen. She heard him say something in a dark voice but she couldn't make anything out he said. "What?" she asked.

Caine's voice exploded in the forest and made everything stand still. "You ever talk about her again, you even say her name, I'll string you up in the forest for Drake to find." He walked away for the last time. The other kids waited until they couldn't see him anymore before they started to talk and help Astrid up.

"You said the _D _word, didn't you?" one asked, still shaking.

"You mean Dian-"

"Ahhh!" a boy yelled to cover the rest of the name. "We don't say that word. His Majesty doesn't really like it. Or her."

Astrid looked at the whole in trees where Caine had disappeared, blue eyes sad and wide.

The walk to Perdido Beach was covered in fallen trees and thrown boulders.

* * *

**Questions:**

**1. Caine and Diana or Drake and Diana?  
**

**2. What is your favorite non-Gone book quote?**

**3. What's your favorite FanFic Gaone story?  
**


	3. Just the Second Best

**I'm going to try and write another chapter tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed my twisted little Fanfic. I'm going to keep it going even after the contest I think. Please tell me if youw ant me to continue. :) Have a great day!**

Chapter 3

Caine had gotten back to the beach far before the rest of his group. He steamed all the way back and uprooted countless trees in his wake.

Who was born without the common sense to know that mentioning someone's ex might not be the best thing? Clearly Astrid didn't know things like that. She had brought Diana up like she was nothing, just a casual conversation topic. She was so much more than that and Astrid clearly couldn't understand. She always talked about how amazing her and Sam's love had been but in reality, it was just a fling. Him and Diana, they were for real. They were in love. They were _still_ in love.

Now he was sitting in his new house waiting for the boys to bring Astrid to him. It was late and he planned to reintroduce her to the town the next morning. He knew that she had to stay with him but he didn't want to seem like he cared so he hadn't gotten a room ready. he had one for her but it didn't have a bed or a chair or anything in it.

He had a big place now but most of his rooms were empty. He lived by himself accept for a maid he had hired to clean once in a while. He hadn't hired her because his house was messy or anything but he needed to seem like he needed the community to help him. He needed to seem like he was above them. It wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be. He had expected the thrill of him saving them to wear off quickly and have a mob with pitch forks and bats at his door within days, but it had been over a week and people would still bow to him when they saw him on the street. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. People showed him _more _than respect. More than loyalty. It was them giving an outsider complete control over their lives and letting him do whatever he wanted. It was _amazing. _

As he sat, watching the door for signs of a blond, rugged girl approaching, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to the memory of Astrid in his arms. He felt nervous to see her again and his stomach kept flitting back from angry to lonely and desperate. He missed human contact and it was outright fact that no one in Perdido Beach deserved to have him touch them.

He missed her. It ached in his soul. Her voice rang out in his head, _Right, Caine Soren's souls. _He remembered how her silhouette had looked that night. How slim she was, how her hair fell at all different lengths, how her knees knocked together as she had talked to them, how she had turned away from him to hide the streaks of tears that were lining her face.

How utterly, fantastically, beautiful she had looked.

He would do anything to have that Diana back with him. Not the one that existed now. The one with Sam. The one who had left him. The one who flinched every time he would try to touch her. The pregnant girl who was unrecognizable from the girl wearing the tight grey sweater who had blown him off in the principals office his first day at Coates.

He closed his eyes and saw her smiling at him. The smile that she had rewarded with him after their intimacy. As she lay beside him, not touching, she had reached her hand out to hold his. Then she turned her head to look at him. Her face broke after a second into a full blown smile that Caine thought was impossible for Diana to do. She stayed like that, smiling and clenching his hand, for at least a minute before leaning into him whispering.

"I am so deeply _in __love_ with you Caine."

He was brought out but three kids knocking very loudly on his door and coming in without waiting for a reply.

Two boys were holding Astrid and she had started rebelling again. Caine guessed that the reason the knock was so loud was because one of the boys had used his foot because taking a hand off the girl could mean something very bad.

Caine opened his eyes when he heard them and hoped that none of them would notice his eyes being a bit more fogged than usual.

"We got her here... eventually," one of the boys exclaimed with pride. The other gave him a sharp look and corrected him.

"We've brought her to you, Your Majesty."

Astrid still giggled a little bit whenever she heard someone refer to him as something as stupid as 'Your Majesty". R_eally? _she thought to herself, _Your freaking Majesty? Have fun trying to find a crown that will fit over you massive head. _

"Thank you boys. Now, go home. You've had a hard day." Caine was making an obvious effort to be nice. He wanted the two boys to go back to their families and talk all about how generous and bold their new king/employer was. As the boys smiled and began to leave Caine stopped them by saying, "Would you like something to eat before you go?" The boys turned around as fast as they could and Caine grinned at their open, hungry mouth's. He got up and moved towards his kitchen, trying to find something he didn't mind parting with. He found a small bowl of dried strawberries. Taylor had brought back a tub of trail mix from the island on one of her trips and Caine always made her check in with him to be sure that the food she took wasn't going to cause a fight over it. He believed that strawberries might do that. Also, he liked strawberries. Simple as that. So he said that he needed to take them and distribute them himself. Which was what he was doing, really. He took out the small bowl and saw their eyes open out of their sockets. The fruit was pink and white and though the skin of it was wrinkled from the drying process, it was the colour of a flapper girls lipstick. He gave each boy three slices and watched the different ways they cherished them. The boy on his right put a whole slice on his tongue and let it dissolve in his saliva. The next one, he tore in half and scarfed them each down, one at a time. The last slice he promptly swallowed. The boy on his left stacked them all on top of each other and nibbled them slowly from the tops where it was the thickest tho the narrow tip. After swallowing every last seed from their mouth's, they both shone with thankfulness. Caine just smiled. "Don't worry about it boys. Now have a good night."

One boy saluted him, the other just bowed. They scurried out smiling and Caine could hear them discussing their strawberry experience with each other for about ten second before it turned to white noise. He was smiling at the door when he heard a condescending voice. "Have you ever done anything in your life that is genuinely for someone else?"

Cain looked and saw Astrid squeezing her hands out of their bindings and looking at him with harsh, judging eyes. She ignored his glare and sat down hard on his couch. "Well?"

"Well what?" he growled back.

"Well, aren't you going to offer me any food? I've been eating shit for over a week now." She stared at him expectantly.

"You're not serious."

Caine could tell that she was hungry but was too proud to ask for some food so she used this tactic instead. He thought about denying her food until she asked nicely, but he was tired and didn't want to put up with her being a bitch to him. He groaned and found a can of something. It wasn't labeled, but the can also wasn't dented so he guessed that it was safe. He took out his can opener and saw Astrid perk up, see the unlabeled can, and slump down. Even if you hadn't eaten in a long time, mystery food wasn't exactly appetizing. Caine sighed and put the can back on the shelf. He reached to the highest shelf and took down an almost empty box of cereal. He didn't have any milk, obviously, but she would be more than happy to eat it dry. The sound of the cereal bits hitting the bowl made Astrid's mouth water.

He brought the bowl to her on the couch and watched as she devoured it. Without thought or cherish as the other boys had. She gulped down every crumb and set the bowl down on her lap. Caine knew from experience that if you have been starving, then scarf down a meal, your stomach doesn't like it very much. He saw Astrid's face slowly drop and her hands go to her stomach. "Astrid...?" Caine asked nervously. She began shaking her head.

"I will not throw that up. I will not. No freaking way." Caine laughed at her stern voice and she turned to glare at him.

After a minute, Astrid relaxed and breathed deeply. "I'm fine," she told him.

"I don't know if that's a word I would use to describe you," Caine laughed. He waited for the girl to hit him or suddenly get defensive but she just smiled a little and shook her head. "What? No comeback?"

"Shut up, I'm sleepy," she said through her smile and bumped him with her shoulder.

"I think you mean _stoned_."

"Same thing." Caine smiled.

"Why did you do that to your brother?" Caine asked quietly. He wanted to know her reason for killing someone because if it was bad enough, it would help him come to terms with all the destruction and death he had caused. He secretly wanted her to tell him that it was because she hated him deep down and wanted him gone. She didn't say that at all and Caine ended up just feel more shit about himself.

"It was the bugs. They were mauling someone and I knew that if Petey thought that something was trying to hurt him, he would make it go away. Like with the cement blocks, remember? I almost crushed his game and because he didn't have a great enough control over his power, he didn't just get rid of my block, he got rid of all of them. I hoped that might happen with the bugs. So I... I dropped him... I just let him fall out of my arms and he just fell and I watched and he was just gone. But so were they. And I just miss him all the time and I feel like something dark has seeded in my heart and is slowly killing me from the inside out. He was my baby brother. How could I do that to him?" She looked at Caine and he saw her eyes covered in tears. They started to run down her face and she made no effort to wipe them away. She just looked at him and cried. It took a certain amount of strength to be able to do that. "How could I do that to my baby brother?"

Caine had been alone for so long that it didn't matter who this girl was. he brought up one of his hands to wipe the salt water off of her face and after a second put the other one behind her neck and led her face into his chest. "You didn't do anything wrong. You saved aren't the villain in this, Astrid. You're the hero. You're always going to be the hero. That's your job." He cupped her chin and brought her back to eye level. "And you are fucking great at your job."

He held he for a bit longer than she broke their silence. "Why did Diana go with Sam? She loved _you_. You can see it in her eyes."

Caine's hands clenched and his jaw slammed together. He tried not to get mad at her. He really, really did. He just wasn't ready to talk to anyone about Her. Astrid might not have a problem with opening up to someone who has wanted her dead from day one, but Caine apparently was more reserved about things like that. _No irony in that, _he thought. _The guy who impregnated a girl is more reserved with his feeling than the famous Ice Queen. _Then he stopped that train of thought because it hurt to even think about queen's.

"I don't want to talk about it, Astrid."

"But I just-"

"It's off limits, okay?!" He raise his voice a little to reinforce the message.

Astrid sat up and looked at him for a second, closed her eyes, then pressed her face into his without warning. Her hand were on the back of his neck and her lips were gently pushing into his.  
Caine just sat there stunned for a millisecond then grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. Her hands slid off of him and rested in her lap. She looked at him questioning. "Astrid... What are you doing?" Caine asked with a wild voice. "I'm in love with Diana. I don't even know you, for Christ's sake."

Astrid broke out laughing. "I really didn't peg you for the type of guy who cared if they knew the other person super well."

Caine didn't laugh. "What were you thinking?"

"I love Sam. Heart and soul and all that good stuff. But he's not here and you are. He won't be here tomorrow, but you will be." Caine let go of her and looked down at his feet. "Diana won't be here tomorrow either. Or tonight, Caine. She's not coming back." Caine looked back up at her with hurt eyes.

Astrid stood up from the couch and moved in front of Caine. She slowly straddled him. Her hands went to either side of his face and she held his gaze on her. She liked his eyes. They made her think of melted chocolate. She leaned in to his ear. Quiet enough so he could only just hear her, she said, "Settle for the second best. I'm not her and you aren't him, but we're each others second best. Settle for me. I'm settling for you."

Caine grabbed her hair and pulled her away from his ear. He held her looking at him for a second, then pulled her into him. Their lips met and quickly because very well acquainted with each other. Astrid reached to the bottom of Caine's shirt and tugged up, pulled it high enough to expose his stomach. She then broke her lips apart from Caine's and before he could protest, she had whipped his shirt up and over his face, leaving his chest bare and vulnerable.

They stayed like that, Caine's bare chest rubbing against Astrid's unwashed flannel, Astrid holding him down with her weight, Caine's fingers running in her golden hair, until their lips were numb and Caine's neck was dotted with little red bruises. Astrid slowly lifted herself off and walked over to the kitchen. She spotted a big Mason jar filled with clear liquid that smelled like and looked like water. She had to be sure because she wasn't sure if Caine had ant alcohol in his house. Probably. She filled two glasses and took them back to the couch. Accept Caine wasn't there.

Once Astrid had left, Caine had run into her room. It was completely bare accept for a pile of clothing that he hadn't liked or hadn't fit him. He didn't like her much really, but he wasn't going to make her sleep in a pile of dirty clothes. He thought of moving a couch in or something but he didn't have one other than the one they had just been occupying.

He heard Astrid walking back and ran to try to beat her to the couch. He didn't. "Where were you?" she asked. Not mad, just curious.

"Getting your room ready." Lying was . "Here," he took the glasses form her with his power, for no other reason than to show off. "Follow me." He lead her down a hall way and they turned right into a big room with an unsoiled mattress and an un-shattered mirror and clothes strewn everywhere. Astrid knew right away that this was Caine's room.

"My room?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Your room."

"Where's _your _room then?"

"No way I'm telling you that. You might sneak in in the middle of the night and try to sleep with me."

Astrid laughed and playfully shoved him. He caught her arm and pushed her into the nearest wall and began kissing her again. They were broken apart rather quickly by two shattering noises. Caine had lost concentration and let the glasses fall in the hallway. "Sorry," he said, blushing from lack of breath, excitement, and embarrassment.

"IT;s fine. Let me clean it up-"

"No," he said firmly. "I'll do it. You're tired. You should sleep. Goodnight Astrid." He leaned in and Astrid expected a kiss full of passion, but got only a peck in return. And then he was outside of her room and the door was shut.

Astrid stripped to her underwear and snuck in between the covers. She fell asleep wrapped in the smell of Him, trying not to think about how much her heart missed Sam.

Caine lay on the couch and tried to think of anything but Astrid. He filled up his mind with Diana and her beauty. She could never find out about Astrid. He needed her back. And Astrid was just a poor substitute.

* * *

**Hey :) Hope you liked i! Questions!**

**1. Favorite Diana and Caine moment? **

**2. Favorite Sam and Astrid moment?**

**3. If you could change anything in the first book (Gone), what would it be?**


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